DONATE ONLINE

Your gift can help protect our air, water, land and wildlife, and our health. Support for EarthShare National helps us continue our innovative partnerships and programs aimed at accelerating the pace of positive environmental change.

While the holidays are a time of excitement and fun with friends and family, they’re also a time of excess waste. The UCS estimates that between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, we generate 25 percent more landfill waste than we do throughout the rest of the year.

To help you cut waste and minimize your carbon footprint this season, we’ve put together some easy-to-follow tips with the help of our member organizations.

Get creative with gift wrap. Pretty packages don’t have to come at the Earth’s expense. Reusing materials like old wrapping paper, gift boxes and bags is a great way to extend the life of traditional gift wrap. You can also wrap gifts in old newspaper or brown grocery bags, adding cut-outs and brightly colored bows as accents. When it comes to gift tags, try creating stencils out of old paper products or using free, printable gift tags. The result: chic, unique gift wrap!

Bring your own shopping bags. A shopping no-brainer! This holiday season, hit the stores with your reusables. You’ll show off your commitment to the environment and cut landfill waste at the same time.

Substitute traditional lights for LEDs. According to the Sierra Club, LED lights use 90 percent less energy than conventional lights, and can reduce your electric bill by $50 during the holiday season. This year, consider making the switch to eco friendly decorations. You can pick up LED holiday lights at major retailers like Target and ACE Hardware.

Recycle old electronics. Getting or gifting a new cell phone this year? Drop the old one off at any Staples store as part of the Sierra Club’s cell phone recycling program. The Sierra Club estimates that 130 million cell phones are thrown into landfills each year, weighing approximately 65,000 tons.

Recycle your pine. While an estimated 98 percent of Christmas trees are grown on farms, recycling your pine can keep additional holiday waste out of landfills. Call 800-CLEAN-UP or visit Earth911 to locate a tree recycling service in your city.

Start a new family tradition this year and go green for the holidays. Check out comprehensive holiday guides from Earth911 and Planet Green for more tips on celebrating the holidays in green style.

Do you have any green Christmas tips or traditions? Share them with us in the comments!

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00e554936bef8834010536507e66970b

I reuse wrapping paper. Not only to save trees, but to share the nice paper with the next person. I keep scraps of left over wrapping paper for photo colloge. There are alot of uses for wrapping paper, used or new.